RESEARCH PROJECT – GROUP 5

PROPOSAL

Topics

• Apostrophe Usage
• Attitudes to apostrophe usage

Research Question

To what extent is the apostrophe still used in everyday written language and what are the surrounding attitudes towards this?

Relevant Literature

Initial literature to be used:

• Lynne Truss (2003). Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, London – A non-fiction book on prescriptive attitudes towards grammar usage

• Sklar. S, Elizabeth. (1976). The Possessive Apostrophe: The Development and Decline of a Crooked Mark. College English. 38 (2), 175-183. -  This journal article looks specifically at apostrophe usage which is the specific area of grammar we are studying

• Mitchell, D.M, 2010. Only a poltroon despises pedantry. The Guardian, 03 January - This article published by David Mitchell discusses how prescriptive attitudes are somewhat necessary and how grammar slobbery can be used as a form of mockery. We will be supporting this in looking at instances where grammar is misused – for example shop signs.  

Methodologies

When discussing the aims of our project, we decided that we wanted to gain quantitative data and qualitative data. Some ideas we suggested to do this was to carry out a questionnaire which consisted of two sections.

Section 1 – a grammar ‘test’ where the participants select the answer which uses the apostrophe correctly

Section 2 – a selection of open and closed ended questions on attitudes towards grammar, and more specifically apostrophe usage.  

By using these methodologies we should be able to reach a clear conclusion (in the form of quantitive data) but also gain some genuine and interesting insight into attitudes towards punctuation by using open questions which allow more scope for individual response.

We plan to distribute the Questionnaire to 30 recipients. We will aim to distribute them amongst people of different ages and educational backgrounds in order to improve the validity of our results and give us a greater insight into a range of opinions and usage patterns.

Analysis of Data

In order to analyse the data we collect, we plan to compile the quantitative data into charts so the results are easier to compare. We can then compare these in terms of percentages which will make the results clearer and easier to compare.

We will compare the qualitative data and – as best we can without changing or altering the answers we are given- group the responses into relevant groups so that they too can be more easily compared. 

·      Second Meeting Confirmation

Date: Monday 21^st October
Time: 4pm
Place: Main Library

Preparation for the meeting:

In order to prepare for the meeting we have been reading Alison Sealey’s ‘Researching English Langauge’ (Alison Sealey (2010). Researching English Language . Oxon: Routledge. 1-94.) in order to give us a deeper understanding of researching the English Language.

Topics for discussion:

Since our first meeting we have maintained contact in order to reach a clear and concise project proposal.  With our topic in mind, we are then going to spend the meeting looking at relevant literature available in the library and online.  

Example - (Lynne Truss (2003). Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, London)

In accordance with literature, we will also be developing our research methods ideas which have already briefly been discussed in previous meetings. We will be focusing mainly on questionnaires as our main source of research.

Summary of First Meeting

1. Brainstorm of topic ideas - we each talked about the topics which we found particularly interesting. 

• Child Language Acquisition - We all had a particular interest in child language acquisition and it was the topic we originally thought we would focus on. However, when we discussed it in more depth we realised we might struggle to find an appropriate method of gathering data, especially considering the short time period we have to carry out our research, so we decided that it wasn't going to be a practical choice. 
• Attitudes to accent and dialect - We realised that no one in our group shared the same accent and we found it interesting to compare accents, talk about the reactions people have had towards our accents, the phrases we use that are commonplace at home but unheard of elsewhere etc. So we considered looking into attitudes to accent and dialect. We thought University provided a large pool of different accents/dialects which could be useful for collecting data. However, when we discussed it further, we realised we couldn't pin down exactly what it was we were hoping to find out or what it was we were hoping to gain from the study and so we thought our project might end up lacking a clear focus.
• Grammar/Prescriptivism - We began discussing the way people use grammar. We agreed that we've all seen examples of non-standard usage of punctuation. We had to consciously call it "non standard" because our instinct was just to call it "wrong". We agreed that we all know someone who is extremely strict about the "correct" use of the apostrophe. But equally, we also know people who don't really worry about it. We then began thinking about the fact that often there are times when, although punctuation is non-standard, we can still understand the message because we know what was meant. So we started to question how relevant or necessary the apostrophe is, if people use it differently. We wanted to look into both opinions and actual usage of the apostrophe. For example - whether people say they care about the "rules" and then whether they can spot a "non standard" use of the apostrophe. 

Brainstorming Methods

We began to think about the ways we could look into this. We thought that a questionnaire would be a good way to gather data. We can ask overt questions about opinions and then we can also include a section which tests participants use of the apostrophe by asking them to spot non standard uses and asking them where they think an apostrophe is needed when given cues such as 'The house belongs to Ben... where would there be an apostrophe in the phrase "Bens house"?' We thought this might help us to see how many value the apostrophe and how many people fully understand the point of it. 

Designing a Question

We have not finalised the phrasing of our question yet, because we wanted to read around the topic a little bit first. We thought this background knowledge might help us hone in on exactly what we're trying to find out. Our initial ideas for a question were along the lines of - "To what extent is the apostrophe still necessary/relevant/used?' 

We wanted to make sure our question included a phrase such as "to what extent" because we thought this would help to focus the results. We want to make sure that we are collecting data that can be easily analysed. For example we might have results along the lines of "60% of people said they did not know the correct use" and  "70% of people could not identify the non standard usage". 

Getting Going

Now that we have selected a broad topic, we are going to spend this week researching it in more depth. Some of us are going to read around the topic of grammar, prescriptivism and apostrophe usage. Others are going to collect examples of apostrophe usage - for example on signs, in newspapers, on social media. We want to get an idea of how the apostrophe is being used and make sure it is something worth researching before we dive fully in to this project. 

Once we have this information we will try to finalise our question and begin to plan our research methods.

First Meeting

Just to confirm our arrangements for our first meeting on Monday 7th October...

Time: 4pm.

Place: I have booked a study room in the Main Library. (It's ROOM B, which is on the 3rd FLOOR at the back of the Library).


Agenda

• Discuss topic ideas and choose a topic 
• Assign initial roles and responsibilities 

Group Reflection

Group Reflection

Independent study has taught us valuable research and analytical skills which we can carry forward into this 2^nd year Module “Research Skills in English Language”.

Some of the tasks which we completed – for example, questionnaires and transcription of spoken language-  were about building on and expanding existing skills that we had acquired at a lower level in previous study. This new level of competence means we are confident to lead our own investigations that are designed and executed in a manner so as to potentially uncover new, valid and reliable data.

Other tasks – such as the literature review and corpus study- were completely new and unfamiliar territory to us. This meant we were acquiring completely new skills and gaining a new perspective about ways of studying English Language.

Anxieties about the group project – We will be trying to ensure that we all fully understand the task and what it is we are trying to achieve so that we can be sure that as a group, we are maintaining the same focus of study.

Independent study evaluation

Independent study helped me to gain knowledge and skills in data collection and analysis. Some of these were corpus analysis, questionnaires, data transcription and literature review.

The corpus analysis knowledge I obtained helped me to understand how words used in language can carry different meanings and are used in different ways. Before Independent studies I had no knowledge of corpus data so it has helped me understand what it is, how it is used and why. 

The questionnaire helped me to gather primary information quickly. It taught me a way of gathering data for analysis informally and anonymously. It helped to gather information from a wider range of people. It was an easy way to get information from the public without consuming too much of their time. 

The literature review was also completely new to me and I didn't understand it at first. It showed me how to collate different opinions and facts on a subject and then analyse them and create my own opinion or argument. 

Transcription of spoken language has taught me how to transcribe a conversation using layout conventions. My knowledge of this was very little before independent studies so this was helpful. 

Overall independent study has given me a lot of understanding and skills on data analysis and collection which will be helpful for my continuing studies

Evaluation of Independent Study Module

Throughout the Independent Study module last year I not only gained new skills but also refined existing skills. This was a very useful module, as it encouraged creativity and to a certain extent encouraged the participating students to think out of the box.

Use of the corpus and the analysis of corpus linguistics opened many doors in terms of potential future linguistic projects. This will allow for more research opportunities as the course continues, which would not be available without this skill. The most difficult thing about grasping this skill was the technical aspect of the corpus queries and sorting the data, the module ensured that learning the corpus was a smooth progression.

Also the module helped me to progress with critically reading academic material with the Literature Review, an area which I had participated with at A level but to a lesser degree. This module helped to build on these skills and critically review a relevant linguistic debate surrounding the 'ownership' of the English Language.

Other skills gained from the module also include designing a questionnaire and transcribing data, both of these skills were relatively new to me and I see them as highly significant.

On the whole this module provided a basis of skills that will continue to be helpful throughout my academic future, the skills gained will also be built on as this degree course continues.